


Until Eternity

by yamandan



Series: One might say it's otherworldly [4]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: 1800s ish, 1920s, Alternate Universe - Past Lives, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Happy Ending, Lex is a PoS, Supernatural Elements, They die, WWII, but they don't stay dead, plato - Freeform, present day, various time periods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 12:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19109464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yamandan/pseuds/yamandan
Summary: I loved you once, I loved you twice, I loved you in my previous lives.According to Pluto, the original form that humans took was that of a being with four arms, four legs and head made up of two faces. They were powerful and threatened to conquer the gods, but the gods refused to allow themselves to lose power. So, instead of destroying the humans, the king of the gods split them all in two. They're soulmates, bound to one another at the moment of creation.





	1. In The Woods Somewhere

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so, this is based on Blackbriar's music video for their song Until Eternity (hence the title) and if you want to watch that you can, but if you want to keep the general plot of the next few chapters a secret you may want to wait until it's finished. I followed the video pretty closely but I did still take creative liberties. Also, their dialogue may seem a tad strange or formal or what have you, that's partly due to me wanting to kind of set the tone for the time periods.  
> I really hope you like it, I plan on posting at least one more chapter. maybe two.

The damp earth beneath her clung light on her skin, broken twigs dug in sharp as pins, long ago fallen from the canopy above. This space felt heavy, the silence stretching beyond tranquil into the realm of the unnerving. That being said, Lena had begun to grow accustomed to the discomfort that came with her first few moments within eternity. She briefly wondered how long her stay would be this time around.

//////////////////////////

The house itself was brilliant, situated on a track of well-manicured land. Prospering evergreens, towering ash, and the pale blossoming of ornamental fruit trees pleasantly tucked the dwelling in with the aid of stout well-trimmed bushes. The spring sun and sweetly singing birds gave it the feel of a home, tucked away from the clamor of rapidly developing cities. The building's foundation was relatively square, its upper-level hanging over the lower, held up by charcoal pillars. The siding a spotless white, accented by the same charcoal found on the supports, the windows bearing not a smudge nor a streak.

The Zor-El family had purchased the home when Alura gave birth to their daughter Kara. They had longed to give Kara a beautiful place in which to grow, but when she was thirteen, both parents fell ill and were taken in the night not long after. The young girl was swiftly taken in by the Danvers family and the solemn quiet that had befallen the property was quickly replaced with the warmth of family once more.

In this warmth, young Kara had flourished, growing into a brilliant young woman and yet despite her profound loving nature, not a soul was willing to wed her. Rumors of her preference towards women began to circulate when she took a shine to the endeavors reserved for men, wearing tailored suits and dedicating her time to the expansion of her mind. They were rumors that caught like a spark to dry leaves when she refused the constant proposals of Lex Luthor. Though it was widely acknowledged that his interest was founded in the fact that she was the sole heir to the remainder of the Zor-El fortune, most thought her mad to not accept due to her lack of awaiting suitors. In truth, Kara had been quite taken by a Luthor heir, but Lex was far from the one. His younger sister was who caught the young Zor-El's eye, and soon she was swept from her feet and fixed with the doe-eyed gaze of a school girl tossed head over heels. 

All talk of Lena that was passed around was a critique, a note of flaw to be found in her character. She was far too stubborn, too icy, too cold to the outside world and ungrateful for what the Luthor's had provided her. Kara had been quick to pay the sentiments no mind and the pair had connected almost instantly, sharing a love of intellectual pursuits and having both been adopted they shared an understanding of one another that others simply didn't have. They grew close throughout the two long-drawn years of Lex's restless courtship, and as their friendship thrived, it bred feelings considerably more intimate than those of a platonic variety. It was gentle and warm as the sun that was cast through the impeccably cleaned windows but never formally acknowledged. Never, until Lex was forced to take his leave from the house, swooping Lena away with him. It was his decision that sparked Kara's last-minute scramble to keep Lena close. 

Kara stood framed in the open window, surveying the vast courtyard in front of the house, having watched Lex's coach disappear into the forest encompassing the property. Her crisp white suit felt all too constricting, dread pooling in her stomach, her every nerve stood on end when she was finally drawn from her pensive silence. She was approached carefully, a delicate hand on her shoulder, ultimately prompting her to turn and face Lena.

"Please, Lena, do stay with me. I know this feeling I have is surely reciprocated, you feel the warmth of it in your chest, in the way your breath does catch when I am near. Please, dear Lena, tell me I am not the only one with love weighed heavy in her heart and longing filled her lungs," Kara's eyes fell wide and pleading, desperate for some sign that her words struck where she aimed, praying Cupid lend to her his marksmen's eyes. 

Kara opened a gentle hand that had hidden away a pendant on a string of pearls. She knew it was bound to be a gift of parting, a reminder of her grieving, the loss of love. Of her love. Of her one and only love.

"The Luthors would never allow it," Lena uttered even as Kara festooned the chain of pearls around her neck, her fingers traced it wearily.

"Then run away with me. We can steal off to some distant land, be rid of them and their wrath," Kara reasoned, "We can make a life together free of them and their cruel fury."

Lena studied the dilapidation in the floorboards, allowing the information to settle in her conscience, preparing to bear them as yet another burden. She dared not speak, trusting not in her ability to refuse the offer hung in front of her so appetizingly. 

"I would not dare drive you away from your family, besides, no matter how many miles we travel, or oceans we cross, Lilian and Lex could not be held at bay. They would scour every inch of every continent so as to drag me back to that cold dead house." Lena held the necklace close, her final token of remembrance. 

"I plead with you, my love, do not leave me. I will have lost my way without you by my side, I fear that with you absent from my world it may lose its brilliant intensity and leave me alone in a bleak and beautyless husk of what it once was," her final plea was punctuated by a cry from the coachman below, sealing it with the finality that Lena needed to step from Kara's orbit and hurry towards the door. Sparing only an apology from the threshold before departing from the warmth of the loving home.

The carriage rolled away down the dirt path disappearing into the woods. The plaintive wails of the mourning doves' filled Kara's ears as the sorrow settled into her bones. It felt wrong, her gut twisted at the realization, dread further seeped in, and Kara couldn't stand the feeling anymore. Something compelled her, whispered in her ears that she must go after Lena, that danger was woven into Lena's story.

Soon the dirt was being worked into the treads of her pricey new leather soles as Kara ran thundering down the semi-packed earth. Her too constricting blazer was shed, left behind on the road without a second thought. Her pulse was in her head, her legs ached, but her dread urged her onward like a whip against a race horse's hide. 

////////////////////////////

Lena sat stiffly on the thinly cushioned seat of the carriage, watching the road ahead with a fierce intensity, focus solely on placing her feelings into their boxes and keeping her stinging tears at bay. Her eyes glassy, not registering any happenings in front of them, wondering, only for a second, what might have happened had she stayed, her hand once again finding its way to the pendant on her neck.

The horses slowed, and her eyes refocused landing the cause of the disruption. Two men stood in the center of the path, familiar men, Lex's men. They looked to one another, sharing unspoken words as one's lips parted slightly, allowing thick white tendrils to snake out, spilling over his chin and dissipating into the air around his head. With a small nod, they began forward flanking either side of the coach, pulling the coachmen away and tossing them to the ditch with a dull thud. Lena attempted to take to her feet and flee but stumbled over her frocks, once more cursing the wretched things. 

All too soon hands found her arms hoisting her up and dragging her to the road. The horses stamped at the dirt uneasily, huffing, ready to bolt. Lena fought, her legs flailed in an attempt to dig in her heels, she felt bruising on her arms as the man's grip tightened keeping her in his hold. He hollered to his partner who ran obediently and attempted to assist, clutching wildly at Lena while taking hits from her legs. His fingers caught the delicate chain of pearls, Lena heard them break apart and begin to fall, ripping a frantic wail from her lungs. A wail cut short by the sharp, hot pain of a blade puncturing skin. She felt her body go into shock, her mind went cloudy, and she felt herself connect fully with the dirt of the path but registered none of the pain. 

She stared at the forest canopy, noting the birds as they watched curiously from their perches and the carriage roared past her. The familiarity of the scene was haunting, she'd been there before, deep down she knew that this was just one time of many past and many to come.

//////////////////////////

Kara's lungs felt as though they were going to catch fire and burn right through her chest yet faster she ran. Something in the distance had caught her eye, and her pool of dread had deepened tenfold. 

She stopped dead when her greatest fear had been confirmed. Lena lay a mere foot away, her heart fell swiftly to her feet, out her toes, and into the dust as she collapsed to her knees. 

With shaking breath and unsteady hand she reached out, fingertips ghosting over the now crimson stained lace, a sob broke forth, a gunshot in the silence of the woods. Never again had she wished to feel the despair of loss so great and yet once more was it tearing through her with feverish intensity. Silently she wished that her lungs had burned to ash within her bosom so that no longer could she feel such anguish in her soul, to be reunited with Lena once more. 

///////////////////////

A letter was sent, bearing word of Lena's death, to the Luthor manor but no reply was received. No one came to retrieve Lena's body, and so she was buried on the Zor-El property. In a clearing in the woods under a towering shade tree, sent off at a pitiful service, with no family, two friends, and one grieving love. She was lain in the damp earth by Kara herself who worked late into the night to fill the hole she now occupied. Once the dirt was replaced and tamped down, Kara lowered herself and pulled the restringed necklace from her pocket and held it tight in her fists. 

Several times she tried to leave Lena with one more set of parting words, even with her ears that could no longer listen. After trying and trying and failing again, she allowed herself to simply weep, to cry her woes to the heavens until her throat went raw and her mouth was dry. Finally, she could hold herself no longer and slumped into the dirt beside the freshly filled grave. 

////////////////////////////////////

Kara looked about, taking in the long-familiar path, and sighing into the fog of the forest. She blinked slow and focused on placing one foot in front of the other as she made her way down the path bordered by tall grass and low ferns not stopping to bask in the light cast through the gaps in the trees. This go 'round had been particularly painful, and she asked herself if destiny was her own sort of personal Hell.


	2. And then, the Madness Commenced

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't do as much editing on this one, so I apologize if anything is incorrect or reads strangely, please feel free to point it out and I'll do my best to fix it in a timely manner. Any feedback you lovelies have is appreciated and helpful.

Kara strode through the exquisite corridor of glossy, deep, mahogany. The polished bronze accents and stained glass skylights bathed the interior of the speakeasy with the redolence of luxury. She didn't much care for the speakeasy scene, but she found herself drawn to this one. She was born of money no one batted an eye, not even her sharp suit, garnered much attention. This particular club was rumored to house fellows with specific mannerisms, and women said to kiss backwards. Not that Kara minded, she was something of a shirt and trousers woman herself. Men never suited her, hardly near tender enough, all thorns and no delicate petals. A pain to hold and not too fun to look at. 

She didn't drink, nor did she gamble, but she did like to dance and so her being there wasn't too terribly strange. As she passed the bar and the well-dressed band, she asked herself once more why she had come. Why she had ducked inside the wealth dripping establishment disguised as a dingy building with dirt caked brick. Why she shook hands with a man of vague familiarity and sat with him and pretended to drink. Why she was watching the serving girls carry booze to men who needed no more and grimace at the hungry eyes that preyed upon their exposed skin. Those eyes were all the more reason to give the male sex a wide berth. 

And deep down she knew the answer, it was the same reason she went anywhere she didn't belong, the tugging in her gut and the tightness in her chest.

Vultures, she thought to herself, the whole lot of them. And with that, she prepared to leave, to go home and sleep away the disgust that had sunk in. To wake in the morning and go only the places she needed to be. She would ignore the familiar tug and follow it no longer, but the ripple of whispers through the sparse crowd gave her pause. The force tugged her eyes to the door, and she rose from her seat, the air stolen from her lungs, her heart sent running wild. The coil in her chest wound so tight it snapped and relieved its nagging tension, the tug in her gut ripped free. The vultures feasted upon the fresh skin to see, but Kara hardly noticed enough to let her temper flare. The quiet voice in the back of her head whispered that she'd finally found her one. Her only one. 

////////////////////

As Lena descended the stairs, Sam trailing close behind, she couldn't help but smile to herself at the thought of Lillian's future fury. Stoking her mother's rage, was the only amusing thing she had left anymore since her schooling had been cut short. She might as well get her kicks in while she could, and so she had donned her most elegant sequined dress, her favorite pearl chained pendant, and a feather boa and hit the party scene. There was little she found satisfaction in anymore outside of booze and Sam's company. So she decided to drink the bars dry and smother her only friend with her presence. 

Rounding the banister, a churning arose in her stomach, not unpleasant, simply present. Perhaps it was nerves as Sam broke away to speak to a gentleman, her not fully wanting to be left alone amongst the idle chatter. Her eyes must have voiced her concerns as Sam invited her to sit and reminisce. He was a man from her school years, gentle and inviting, and clearly interested in Sam. Lena sat quietly on the outskirts of conversation, chiming in only when addressed directly. Her eyes darted around expectantly before they found her.

And when she approached, the churning ceased, replaced by warm anticipation. Lena took her callused hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet and led to the center of the floor. She found herself pressed close, held tenderly, dancing, not for the first time, with the woman she felt so tethered to. As though written in the stars above, they were created to dance together, forged by the gods to step in time with one another. When they came together, the universe fell away, the very room they stood in could have crumbled and fell, but they would stay. Rooted in the marble tile leaning to and fro as willows in the wind. 

////////////////////////

Kara lost track of how long she had stood swaying with this woman in her arms, and frankly, she didn't care. She could have stayed there for eternity and remained content, but the chaos that erupted around them offered little room for choice. 

It began with the panicked entrance of a willowy fellow, young and thin with a head that barely cleared the doorways. His narrow, clean-shaven face flushed red with terror in his eyes, his mouth stretched wide around hardly formed word. His words were loud, shrill, rushed beyond comprehension, as he flung himself upon the stout gentlemen who owned the building. His nose swollen and purple with age and alcohol, his beady eyes blinked wildly as his shoulders were pawed at by the distraught boy. Tears danced in his full frantic eyes as he babbled on about something.

"What is it ya wild-eyed dandy!" he managed to shout over the young man's ruckus. 

"They're here," came the wailing reply that stilled the room, "and they've got arms!"

And for a brief, fleeting moment, the room was calm, the voices were quiet, the hungry eyes ceased their scavenging, and the bound stilled in their swaying. 

And then, the madness commenced. 

People ran, fell over chairs, tables, each other, they were screaming, and Kara clutched her partner and ran when the first shots rang out.

The sounds of powder igniting reverberating off the mahogany, of lead, tearing through wood and metal and glass, the cacophony of it all rang in her ears as she dove behind the bar. Cradling Lena to her chest, she was too focused on the wood splintering near her head and the stinging pain in her side to question when she'd come up with the woman's name. Instead, she closed her eyes so tight she saw stars and prayed that it would all end soon.

She could feel her time slipping, falling through her fingers like sand through the hourglass, the distance between herself and eternity closing rapidly. When Lena's voice finally pierced through the din, Kara knew it, long ago memorized it, and wove it into her soul. 

"Must Fate be so cruel as to tear us apart after we've so soon found each other again?" 

"A cruel twist by the very force that draws us together," Kara agreed, furious at the gods for such sinister sufferings, "I suppose that's what happens when you're a puppet to the divine,"

Lena pulled away just so, only to take in the curves of Kara's sculpted features, perfection Michelangelo could only hope to achieve. Her eyes as angry and blue as sea foam under the influence of Posiden's wrath. 

The dissonance ended as abruptly as it began, replaced by the low murmur of voices and the crunch of glass underfoot. They held their breath daring not make a sound but jumped when a man appeared around the corner of the bar. There and gone in the flash of a muzzle.

////////////////////

Kara stooped in the dirt path, scooping up the delicate string of pearls, and scanning the woods in front of her. They had entered eternity together this time, perhaps she would be closer this time. The brush and twigs lashed against her, but she hardly noticed, once more her lungs burned, and her legs ached, yet she continued on like all those lifetimes ago. Without the crows and flutterings of frightened birds, the woods seemed eery and silent, even with the thundering of Kara plowing through the woods. She would find her soon before too many lifetimes had passed.

////////////////////

Lena spun on her heel at the sound of heavy footsteps, breaking branches, and rustling leaves, and at the edge of her clearing stopped Kara, breathing hard and trembling. She stepped in slow, hesitant, her hands hovered over Lena's skin, and in an effort to ease the tension in Kara's shoulders, Lena cracked a joke. 

"I'm in the same spot every time, it's good to know that finally remembered how to find it," Kara now met her eyes and a weak smile formed on her face, and her hands found Lena's face. 

"It's good to have you back, Lena," she mumbled, before connecting their lips at last.

/////////////////

Their lips connected and Lena stood before the floor to ceiling window, looking out on a vast cityscape with a glass of scotch cradled in her hands. She settled into a cold office, a killer pair of heels, and twenty-something years worth of memories. Her intercom crackled with words she paid no mind. Lena smiled gently to herself as the door opened, she could feel her, sense her, knew she was there long before the door opened.  
She knew her face, her eyes, the scar beside her brow, and the melody of her voice and yet she felt the same thrill. The same completeness, the same warmth as the very first time. 

"It's good to have you back, Kara," and there she was smiling again. Her love. Her one and only love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a vague idea for what could be the third chapter for this, kind of just a little something to establish how they came to be in the loop they're in. I'll probably only write it if you guys want it.  
> I also used [this site](http://the-toast.net/2015/05/22/code-words-for-gay-in-classic-films/) to find the "gay slang" that would be more appropriate to the time period if you were at all interested in that.  
> Hope you enjoyed, feel free to leave or PM me any suggestions, requests, corrections, or questions.  
> Also, I'm on Tumblr if you have any suggestions or ideas or something you want me to take a crack at.  
> [Click here for that](https://yamandan.tumblr.com/)


	3. Serviceman of the Fates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of how it all came to be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter has a depiction of violence, I don't feel that it is too terribly graphic but it is more so than the previous chapters. If this is something that may be upsetting to you please proceed with caution.
> 
> Jihyossoulmate said that they would like another chapter so I figured, why not. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy whatever it is I just made.

"According to Pluto, the original form that humans took was that of a being with four arms, four legs and head made up of two faces. They were powerful and threatened to conquer the gods, but the gods refused to allow themselves to lose power. So, instead of destroying the humans, the king of the gods split them all in two as a means of doubling the number of sacrifices the gods received. The new humans lived in misery and would not eat, they began to perish so, Apollo sewed them up, leaving only the navel as the only evidence if their original form. Now, each human that walks the earth longs to find their other half, and when they finally reunite they will understand one another without need for words, feel complete, and lie content together for eternity." Kara recounts gently, resting her head against Lena's stomach she ghosted a fingertip over the smooth pale skin leading to Lena's bellybutton, flattening her palm over the dip, "they're soulmates. Bound to one another at the moment of creation."

They lie beneath their towering fig, the tree where they had met, their hideaway. The tree tucked away in the grove that holds their secrets and sets trees to stand guard. They often sit, Kara shares her stories, and Lena listens. Lena shares her newest scientific finding, and Kara does her best to understand.

"You always stumble upon the most fascinating tales, Kara," Lena smiles down at her, "Do you believe it?"

Kara thinks for a moment, "It does make sense," Lena meets her eyes, silently prompting her to elaborate, "it would explain the way you have always made me feel, the magnitude of feelings that I felt when our eyes met that day. The way you make me feel whole."

Lena considers the feeling of fullness and warmth that fills her each and every time she is near Kara, the way they fit together seamlessly without trying, the conversations they held uttering not a word. Kara wreaked beautiful havoc within Lena, filled her senses with honey and flower blossoms and every sweet thing to grace the earth"I suppose that does make sense," she conceded, "perhaps, if we ask nicely, the gods will sew us back together," Lena joked dryly. She was teetering on the edge of giving into something far too perfect, sometimes easing the weight of words was the only way to keep herself grounded.

A distant shout popped their bubble of comfort, drawing a sigh from Lena's lungs and sent it dripping from her lips. The daily holler of the local shepherd boy signaling the end of their time together, reluctantly Kara sat up, allowing Lena to rise from the blanket. She followed Lena's full hips with keen eyes until a knowing laugh brought her attention up. Full green eyes, smile creased at the corners, obscured as Lena pulled her tunic back over her head. Leaning down, she captured Kara's lips in a tender kiss with a promise of next time on her tongue as she strode away. 

Each step farther was one step heavier.

Sighing and dropping onto her back Kara studied each fig leaf carefully, mulling over Plato's words, reveling in the lingering traces of Lena's love left on her skin.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Lena sat across from Lex, a loaf of bread and a lump of cheese lay untouched between them. The sky outside was the color of rage, the painted clouds were a bloodbath, bright crimson as it spilled from the sun, dried coppery against the horizon. The dying light bathed the room in fitting light as Lex's barely-restrained fury festered loudly in his wrapping knuckles.

He sat knocking against the table, quiet at first, growing harder and louder until his skin was red and threatening to crack open. He continued to knock and knock until he abruptly ceased, falling silent and tranquil, and Lena suddenly wanted him to pick up his knocking again.

"Dear Lena, you are an atrocity, a broken branch on the family tree," Lex spat out, rising from his chair glaring at her, "You will pay for such vile acts. The both of you." 

Lena absorbed the information that her once-beloved older brother delivered. The moment the words left his mouth, the air had gone stale and stiff the tension that mounted was nearly unbearable. Lex had seen them, caught them, surely followed her, and fell witness to their most private of intimacies. Found them panting passions, tangled in tenderness, vulnerable only for each other. Lena wanted to shed her skin, be rid of the layer that now felt defiled. It filled her with dread, the venom in his voice, she knew that now he truly was lost. The big brother that had protected her loved her, taught her, was gone. In his place stood the hate-filled husk of a man, the camels back broke, and she knew, the last remnants of the old Lex had finally faded away. Kara was the final straw, his faith in her abolished, replaced with unwavering resentment.

Lena idly wondered if Lex would believe Plato's theory on soulmates. If he would care at all to hear. She watched him pace the length of the room, fuming, planning. The longer he stewed in his anger, the more enraged he became, suddenly he roared, bringing his fist upon the tabletop, "That Zor-El filth is to blame! She's corrupted you, manipulated you for her own disgusting gain!" his eyes were feral, his fury finally bubbling to the surface, burning white-hot in his eyes, in every shaking breath he heaved out and clawed in.

Dread settled in Lena's gut, forcing bile up her throat, Kara's life was at risk in the wake of Lex's unearthly wrath. 

He labored more air through his clenched teeth, raising an arm shaking with his hardly contained temper pointing Lena to her room, "Get. Out." he managed around his tense jaw. 

Lena ducked her head, hurried out of the room, she knew better than to press her luck when Lex held murder in his eyes. 

////////////////////////////////

Lena tried to warn Kara, she did her best, but no matter how she hard tried, Lex got to her first. She found them, circling each other like animals, not 50 paces from their fig tree.

She recognized the smug glint in Kara's eyes that flashed before she charged, delivering her fist up at his ribs, her blow barely deflected by Lex. 

And Lena saw it, the moment of ignition within Lex, he lashed out throwing blow after thunderous blow, his movements were erratic, powered by raw emotion as he worked Kara backwards. Her cocky air was replaced with frantic energy as she desperately tried to evade the onslaught of forceful fists and nails. She only managed a few decent hits, breaking his lip against his teeth and bruising the flesh around his left eye.

Lena's cries fell on deaf ears as Kara misstepped, tripped and fell back scarcely clearing the trunk of their tree. Lex pounced, bracketing Kara's hips with his knees and drawing a blade. A wail was ripped from Lena's lungs as she threw herself upon Lex's back, he merely reared his head back, cracking it against her nose and sending her to the ground. Her world swam, she choked on her panic, sputtering and gasping in her pool of distress.

When she finally regained her bearings, dragging herself to shore, she watched him rise from Kara's now still form, spit out his hate and mutter something about how filth deserved to suffer, before stalking away. His clothes rumpled, smeared with dirt and blood. She knew their mother would be his first stop, knew that with her in his corner murder was nearly a crime, knew that he would have no hell to pay. He would resume his cushioned life, knowing pain as thoroughly as he knew punishment.

She found Kara, writhing in agony in the dirt, an intricate gold hilt protruding from just under her ribs. Apologies fell from her blood-stained lips, and Lena shushed her, "It's not your fault," she sobbed out. 

She cradled Kara's head in her lap and stroked her hair as she watched helplessly as Kara slowly bled out, hot trails from dulling eyes, she croaked out one final I love you before Lena crumbled. The light behind her eyes extinguished, the stories she had yet to tell gone along with her, a future brought to an end before it could begin. Lena wished that she had stayed that fateful day, had overstayed the shepherd's cry, and basked in the glory of being wrapped in the shawl of Kara's affection.

Doubling over and wailing into Kara's hair, Lena mourned a loss that struck her as no other had. Not her father, not her birth mother, no, Kara's death struck cords Lena didn't know she had. The bright smitten sky paid no heed to the broken-hearted lover, unlike the bloody sky on the night of Lex's rage, no sorrowful scene was set. Birds sang taunting Lena, the sun mocked her tears by shining so brilliantly as she grieved under the tree that marked their perfect beginning and their violent demise. At that moment, holding her lifeless love, she decided that Plato could not have been wrong. 

////////////////////////////////

She wasn't sure how or when but Lena ended up back in her room once the sun had slunk away behind the horizon tiring of Lena and setting off to find some other broken soul to ridicule. The rest of her day passed in a muted blur of faceless vessels and nameless bodies asking questions she couldn't remember her answers to. She glowered at the amenities that lay about her room, she deserved no comfort as Kara lies on a cold slab being prepared to be lowered into the ground. She sunk down onto her lumpy bed and found herself cursing all the gods that she could remember. Every name of every divine being that she had ever heard Kara speak of. And it almost helped.

"It is unfortunate what happened today," a dark voice spoke from the corner, "a very troubling case," it was almost as though he were talking to himself.

Lena turned but couldn't find the energy to be appropriately concerned as to why there was a strange man in her room. All of Kara's warmth has been replaced with a weighty indifference. She strained to scrape up enough care to hoist an eyebrow up her forehead. 

"How rude of me to not introduce myself first," he cringed at his own careless mistake, before rising and giving a small bow, "I'm Rao, serviceman to the Fates."

Lena blinked, she had never heard of him, but that didn't mean much. Who knows, maybe his story was one that died along with Kara. His dark lips curled up just so, forming a sympathetic smile, "I was tasked with...well, I suppose that's not too important...but I did catch sight of yourself and Kara," he let a heavy sigh escape his lungs, Lena wondered if it was a motion he was well familiar with, "I...I developed a bit of a soft spot for you two, it's not often that soulmates find one another," another sad smile, "I had not foreseen your brother's doings, but..." he trailed off giving a helpless shrug, "even the Fates are wrong at times."

He hung his head, and Lena thought, she almost wanted to ask about what he had foreseen, what future Kara and herself were supposed to share, but she held her tongue. She knew the answer would only hurt her further.

"Is that all you came for? To let me know that it was beyond even the Fates? To let me know that things could have played out differently, were my brother not a raving lunatic?" Lena's words lacked all of their intended malice, she sounded exhausted and doleful.

"No," he answered quickly, bringing his head up quickly as though burned by the reminder of his reason for coming, "I came to make a proposal,"

///////////////////////////////

The conversation played back again and again from the projector behind Lena's lids. She couldn't help but think that she sounded like a woman blinded by grief, making nonsensical deals with devils.

"You say we'll be...reunited?" the skepticism in her voice prevalent even to her own ears. She normally wasn't one to meddle with life and death, but loss did strange things to her family. 

"Until myself and these old gods fall from their thrones and then longer still," Rao declared assuredly, as though it were the simplest thing in the world.

Lena mulled it over, she had nothing to lose, Kara was already gone, she could see no harm in agreeing. Stranger things had happened to her, like meeting Kara and finding happiness in her, "Alright, where do I sign?" 

The man before her smiled, waved away the notion, gave an anti-climactic snap of his long fingers and disappeared in the next blink of Lena's eyes.

It had been three days, and Lena had decided that Rao had been nothing more than a peddler of false hope. Or better yet, a figment of her imagination conceived by a grief-induced mania. Three days and Kara's coins remained on her eyes, Lena remained alone, and their tree remained a horrid monument to everything that Lena loved and lost. 

Days passed, and Lena withered, finding solace only in the melancholy glow of the moon. Fair lady Moon was far more gentle to her sorrow than her cruel brother Sun. Perhaps she too had felt the stinging pain of loss and grief, perhaps unlike the sun, she simply found no satisfaction in the sufferings of man. 

Lex made himself scarce in the following weeks, busy slipping through the cracks of in the system. Allotting bribe money, weaving lies, and spilling crocodile tears kept a man busy. 

The days elapsed into weeks and Lena fell ill, despite her best efforts she could not manage to stave it off. Maybe this is what Rao had meant when he said that she would be reunited with Kara for all eternity, he would kill her off too, and they would live on in the afterlife together. After all, the dead would remain dead even as old gods retired, and new gods arose.

She couldn't find it in herself to be upset at the proposition. She sank quietly into her worsening state, accepting it as fate, and finally fell asleep for the last time. 

///////////////////////

Lena wasn't sure where she found herself. She assumed the afterlife, but Kara was nowhere to be found, only non-linear time and towering trees. Lena gave a harsh laugh, at least she had the mist to sulk alongside. It was a fitting setting for her eternal sulking, the taunting sun was dull and blocked out by the thick canopy of leaves. Yes, she thought, even without her pitying moon, this was an apt place to mourn for eternity.

And such an appropriate title, "I hereby dub this realm Eternity," she gave a sardonic laugh that dissolved into a sigh. 

"Good to see you haven't lost your wry wit," Lena's eyes burned, insanity set in a lot faster than she had anticipated. She was already hearing voices. 

But when she turned Kara was there, so real and still so very beautiful, even in the pale light that hardly managed to slip through the leaves.  
She reached about the air, but the words she pawed at slipped through her fingers. 

Kara didn't need to hear them anyway, "I'm not really sure, I was crossing the river then suddenly I was here," 

Lena knew exactly why but didn't feel like explaining it just then, instead, she moved forward to wrap her arms around Kara. Eternity would be easier to bear so long as Kara was there to share it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus thing I thought of:  
> Kara and Lena are walking through an art museum when they find a renaissance era portrait of Lena. The painting's credited to "unknown" and Kara chuckles, "That was a fun go 'round don't you think?"  
> Lena laughs back and smiles, "The renaissance was quite enjoyable," she gave her sarcastic smile, "I do always like the lives where we don't get murdered,"
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, feel free to leave or PM me any suggestions, requests, corrections, or questions.  
> I'm on Tumblr if you have any suggestions or ideas or something you want me to take a crack at.  
> [Click here for that](https://yamandan.tumblr.com/)


	4. Caught in the Crossfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An extended version of the note from the last chapter.  
> They don't die in this one!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello loves, I finally got around to finishing this after working on, and procrastinating, it for like months. I really hope you enjoy!

_Kara was working for the enemy._

The museum had a little bit of everything. Art, history, science, something for everyone to enjoy. Which is part of the reason Kara and Lena decided to visit. To reminisce. This lifetime was one of few in which they retained the memories of their previous lives. Dozens of lifetimes, hundreds upon hundreds of years worth of love and loss. Brief, passionate affairs with sudden catastrophic ends, long lingering romances have drawn out until they're old and thin and aching, long years alone feeling the hollow of a missing piece. They always found each other, even if only for a moment. 

The art section smelled of old wood, the air was stiff, the room near empty. Feet against floorboards welcomed the newest visitors, creaking out a tired hello. The walls were spotted with oil on canvas, paths obscured by stands carrying statues. They moved from display to display, each one standing tall and proud as if to say, "look at me, my shoulders hold art, what of yours?" 

"Why, they hold the weight of the world, of course," they would say back.

"I nearly forgot you were a painter," Lena noted, pointing to a painting credited to no one, a portrait of herself, though you couldn't tell by looking. In that life, she had been Italian, tall and tanned, still with those bright green eyes. They always stayed the same. 

"That was a fun go around, don't you think?" Kara's smile fell lopsided on her lips. 

"The renaissance was delightful," Lena presented a sarcastic smile, "I do always favor the lives we don't get murdered in."

Kara gives an admonishing glance, Lena jumps to her own defense, "Hey, it's not my fault that immortality has made me bitter,"

Kara drops an affectionate laugh into her hand and knocks it playfully against Lena's shoulder. They chuckle together, the bubbles of it carrying them from the art hall and into the expansive history area.

They walked about leisurely, taking it in, cracking jokes, correcting facts. And then they saw it, a photograph, grainy and faded, yellowing at the edges. 

It was of a woman clad in a Nazi uniform, arm outstretched, desperately clinging to the hand of a red-haired woman in a loose, worn dress. The green of her eyes could not be seen, but the regret that filled them was clear as day. It was not a "tarnishing of friendship" as the small sign suggested. It was a separation of soulmates. A sadistic joke by the universe. Their most recent rebirth. One of their longest. One of their cruelest. 

_Kara was working for the enemy._

_The adopted child of a Jewish family, bearing the Nazi uniform. The cotton pinched at her, mocked her, let her know that she was only aiding the fire of hate. Without the proper adoption papers filled out, Kara couldn't be linked to her adoptive family, allowing her to be plucked from school and added the party. Her first order of business was to smuggle them out, one man and two women left in the hands of the English army. Her second order of business was to desert and escape to the Allies._

_She nearly pulled it off._

_The day before she left she was shipped to Poland. Acting as the cleaning crew after the trains had left their stations, bidding for the very people that would wish her dead._

_Dust and ash coated the remains of the cobbled stone. Books were being burned, and the pages under her uniform bit at her ribs. One small paper-back was spared the inferno in the darkening streets. Saved from the ransacked room of an Irish college student who was no-where to be found._

_Most of the people were gone, leaving only Nazi officers and those that didn't fear the bombs. Shifting to ease the pain of paper teeth she caught a glimpse of her, hidden in the dark of an alleyway._

_Her cheeks were stained with tears, trailing down her neck and wetting the loose collar of her dress. Mourning the pages ascending to the atmosphere._

_A breath filled her frail lungs, she turned from the fire, scuffed down the alley, and Kara followed. Followed to a side street where finally they met. She knew, knew with the way that warmth replaced her blood and bone, knew that this was the one. Her one. And the tear-stained woman knew it too._

Lena's face was thinner, her knees knobby and elbows jutting, her nose crooked from an angry break in her youth. Her hair was curly, blown in her face, she was frantic.

Kara was pleading, her eyes wide in her round face, her short blonde hair tucked under her uniform cap. Shorter, less broad in the shoulders, still Kara.

_Voices down the street stirred the air around them, loud and German, striking frozen fear into the shell of surrounding warmth._

_"I have to go" Lena warned in a language Kara couldn't understand, "I'm not safe here anymore,"_

_Kara clung desperately to her thin hand, a piano player's hand, wanting more time to selfishly bask in Lena's presence. But the voices drew closer, and a sudden shudder click from some unplaced window, allowed Lena to flee into the darkness of the alleyways._

_She was gone, and Kara knew that she may never see her again._

"I was always so scared I would never see you again," Kara whispered, no really in the museum anymore, "sort of a redundant fear."

_Kara kept her book close, tucked in her uniform shirt, only taking the risk to read it when she was truly alone. It was a book of poems by Isaac Rosenberg. They were solemn, they kept her company through Europe, through the nights of fear among the adversary. The pages were the closest thing to a friend by her side as she was forced to fight a war she hated. Searching shell city after shell city. The biting pages became a comfort, let her know she wasn't alone._

_After years of vainly cleaning Nazi messes, she was shipped off to protect the front line. She prayed, to every god she could remember, that it would end and she could leave._

_One of them seemed to have listened._

_Two days after her arrival, the allies won. Two days of gun-fire and wailing cries. Of murdered men on every side and firing bullets at the sky. Two days before she fell heavy, sobbing into the arms of a young faced American soldier, begging for safety, and forgiveness. A week before she arrived, at the bustling train station, searching for familiar faces._

_The English chatter droned on as she slumped on a bench. Nearly five years of not seeing her family. Maybe they didn't look the same. Maybe she didn't look the same._

Lena took Kara's hand, gently squeezing it. Sometimes reassurance was needed when you were reliving a life you no longer lived, "You didn't know that then,"

_"it's a good book," a voice said, in forced half-broken German "but it seems that you may already know that,"_

_The cover was faded and torn, and stained with sweat from living under cotton layers._

_"Yes, it is," Kara said back, tuning and meeting those green eyes, "I rescued it in Poland,"_

"I remember when I told you it was my lost copy," Lena muttered.

"I cried so much," Kara weakly laughed back.

_Long after Kara found her family, falling with them into a tear-filled heap of limbs, Lena left with her to France. They lived near the border of Spain until the red had left Lena's hair behind. Until the uniform no longer mocked. Until the pages of the book were at risk of falling apart like flakes of ash._

_They buried it out in the country, in a metal box full of cloth and paper._

"Do you think it's still buried out there?" Lena inquired off-handedly.

"Only one way to find out," Kara declared, earning a fond smile from Lena.

It took nearly three months, but they finally tracked down the time capsule. Still far beneath the soils of France. Kara dug while Lena shielded herself from the midday sun. 

The box was caked with dirt and rusted nearly shut, but it eventually came pried open. The tomb of a previous life. The book sat atop a stack of yellowing pages, love notes Kara would leave around the house for Lena to find. 

"You've always been such a romantic," Lena almost joked as she leaned into Kara's frame. 

Kara just nodded, wrapping the arm that held the papers around Lena's back, pressing her lips to her crown, reading letters in a language she learned in another life.

"Maybe in one of these lives, I'll be able to make you understand you just how much you mean to me," Kara finally mumbled into Lena's hair.

"Trust me, dear, I already do,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I'm on Tumblr](https://yamandan.tumblr.com/)  
> Feel free to message me with ideas or corrections or whatever you feel.  
> I love your guys' feedback and would absolutely love to know what you are thinking.


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